The Woman Body-Shamed by Dani Mathers Just Spoke Out for the First Time

Earlier this month, former Playboy model Dani Mathers pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of invasion of privacy after a July 2016 incident where she publicly Snapchatted a photo of a naked woman, who was 70 at the time, at her gym. But despite Mathers' claims of remorse, the lawyer of the woman she photographed said the model hasn't reached out to apologize to the victim.

The woman just spoke out through her lawyer, the Los Angeles city attorney Mike Feuer, who said his client had described the incident as "humiliating." "Body shaming is inhumane. And it tears down the victim’s self-respect," he told the Los Angeles Times. "It has devastating consequences. It stigmatizes victims. I think there’s no question that in this case, the invasion of her privacy, compounded by the dissemination of the photo that was taken, has had what will be I hope a dissipating impact over time but certainly a severe impact now."

Feuer adds that although Mathers has made public statements apologizing for her actions, she hasn't reached out to the one person she targeted. "I saw Ms. Mathers on Good Morning America. She claims that she’s tried to contact the victim, I presume to apologize," Feuer said. "I will share with you, that surprises the victim, who told me she is unaware of any attempt by Ms. Mathers to reach out to her."

Feuer points out that Mathers' public statements alongside her failure to apologize to the victim herself gives the impression that Mathers is trying to paint herself as the victim in this scenario. "The focus of our attention needs to be on the fact that invading people’s privacy and body shaming is so deeply injurious to the most basic levels of self-respect that one should have," he said. Instead of focusing on Mathers' feelings, he explained, it's important to focus on how the victim must be feeling and to figure out how to prevent invasions of privacy like the one Mathers committed.

That's why Feuer is working with state legislators to dissuade people from acting similarly in the future: He co-sponsored a bill that would penalize the distribution of photos of people taken without their consent while they're nude or partially clothed. It passed the California Senate last month.

As for Mathers, her sentence includes 30 days of community labor removing graffiti and three years' probation, in addition to paying $60 in restitution to the victim. (Feuer says that his client sought $60 specifically because that's how much she needed to replace her backpack, which was included in Mathers' photograph of her and could be used to identify her.) And while it's not part of her plea agreement, a pro tip for Mathers would be to genuinely try reaching out to the victim to offer a sincere apology.